French fossil fuel giant TotalEnergies is taking legal action against French politician Yannick Jadot for defamation as hearings begin this week in Paris. Ukrainian Campaign Group Razom We Stand is standing by Jadot, who courageously called out TotalEnergies’ complicity in helping raise funds for Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. Iryna Ptashnyk, a Senior Research and Development Expert representing Razom We Stand, will testify in the case, underscoring the critical need to expose and address the role of fossil fuel revenues in funding Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine.
TotalEnergies remains one of the largest European importers of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), continuing to help funnel money into Putin’s war chest at the expense of innocent Ukrainian lives. While other companies have severed ties, TotalEnergies chose to maintain and profit from its partnerships in Russia’s Arctic LNG projects for years. Even after months of public pressure and threats of legal action, TotalEnergies only announced its decision to withdraw from Novatek at the end of 2022—long after the atrocities of Mariupol, Chernihiv, Bucha, and Irpin.
Russia continues to stock its war chest and carry out horrific war crimes daily with funds from fossil fuel exports. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia earned EUR 842 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports.
Iryna Ptashnyk, Senior Research and Development Expert Razom We Stand, said, “The war in Ukraine, which has caused unimaginable suffering and claimed thousands of innocent lives, is fueled by fossil fuel revenues, and European companies have a moral obligation to ensure they are not contributing to this devastation. TotalEnergies’ decision to take legal action against those who raise these concerns is deeply troubling. We stand with those who seek to shine a light on the ongoing role of fossil fuel money and European corporate collaboration in financing Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
TotalEnergies’ deep entanglement with Russia’s fossil fuel industry is undeniable. The company:
- Held a 20% stake in Yamal LNG, launched in 2017, and a 10% stake in Arctic LNG 2, a central project by Novatek.
- Maintains a 19.4% stake in Novatek, Russia’s largest LNG producer.
- Co-owned the Termokarstovoye gas field, which produced gas condensate transformed into aviation fuel used by Russian jets to bomb Ukrainian cities, as revealed by investigations from Global Witness and Le Monde.
The fact that TotalEnergies only announced its withdrawal from Novatek after months of devastation and public outcry highlights a pattern of profiting from Russia’s war economy until the reputational cost became too high. Even now, TotalEnergies continues to profit from LNG shipments that undermine European security and prolong Ukraine’s suffering.
Razom We Stand’s participation in this case is driven by the belief that public scrutiny of fossil fuel investments linked to Russia is essential to ensuring accountability and preventing further funding of Russian aggression.
Razom We Stand stands firm in support of Yannick Jadot’s efforts to hold TotalEnergies accountable. This legal battle is not just about defamation—it is about the right to expose corporate complicity in helping fund Russian war crimes, and the urgent need to end European financing of Putin’s war through fossil fuel revenues.
The French justice system now faces a crucial test: will it protect the truth and those who speak it, or will it allow a powerful fossil fuel corporation to silence critics and evade accountability?
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Razom We Stand is a Ukraine-based campaign group active internationally. It calls for a total and permanent embargo on Russian fossil fuels and an immediate end to all investment in Russian oil and gas companies by phasing out fossil fuels globally.
Svitlana Romanko has appeared in the top-tier international press, including Der Spiegel, Le Monde, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Washington Post, CNN, NBC, Newsweek, Politico, The Hill, Rolling Stone, Financial Times and more.
